Johto Beginnings
by Naoko-Miharu
Summary: [Sequel to Journeys Intertwined] Kage Kuroi, the edgy tomboy and Anemoné Phoenix, the genuine berry planter and collector, along with their Pokémon friends continue their adventurous journey around Johto and into the Mystery of the Whirlpool Islands.
1. On the Road to Azalea Town!

**We don't own Pokémon or anything related to it; it belongs to Satoshi Tajiri.**  
**The other characters however were created by us, Naoko & Miharu.  
We hope you enjoy **_Johto Beginnings_

**A/N: **If you haven't read _Pokémon: Journeys Intertwined_ yet, then you might not understand a lot of what's going on in this story now. If you have read it then I congratulate you and thank you for taking the time to read this. We hope you enjoy Johto Beginnings.

* * *

**---Route 32---**

"Ah! The fresh air, the cool breeze! Nothing beats having a picnic on a nice Spring day! Right, Raikiri?" Kage, the silver-eyed tomboy said happily as her jacket swayed from the breeze.

"Pichu pichu! (Yuppers!)" Raikiri, the small electric mouse Pokémon, chirped happily as a reply to her trainer.

"Um. . . I don't know about you guys but. . . WE'RE IN A_ FOREST_!!!"

Anemoné, the jet-black haired companion of Kage, shouted.

"Cynda cyndaquil. . . (That's true. . .)" The fire mouse Pokémon, Lucifer, said sighing an anime mushroom-sigh from beside Raikiri .

"Mou. . . That was really loud, Anemoné!" The tomboy replied, rubbing her ears as black cat ears appeared. "And it's POKéMON forest."

"That's besides the point, Kage. . ." Anemoné mumbled as she scooted away from an Ekans that had slithered past her. "And a lot of Pokémon are dangerous you know. . ."

"-Blink- Rheally? M'how?" Kage replied, chewing her salmon-filled onigiri before swallowing it. "Mm. . . Yummy! These are great, ya know?"

"Really? Thanks! Took me a while to perfect it!" Anemoné started before blinking and puffing out her cheeks a bit, "Hey! That's besides the point! We need to get out of this place! What if we get bitten by an Ekans? Then we might get poisoned!"

"Huh? Did you say something?" Kage asked confused as she finished her third onigiri. "Sorry. I wasn't listening. . ."

"-Sigh- How could I forget?" The blue-violet eyed girl mumbled letting out a mushroom-sigh as her head dropped slightly and a depressed aura covered her.

It was only a few days ago and maybe an hour after the two girls had begun traveling together, did Anemoné find out, that her tomboy-like friend had a **_very_** short-attention span.

"Eh? Nani? Forget what?" Kage asked blinking with her confused look on and question-marks around her.

"-Sigh- Forget it, Kage." Anemoné mumbled before smiling at the still confused tomboy, "Let's just get out of here fast so that we can reach Azalea Town, okay?"

". . ." No response.

"Eh? Kage? What's up?" The berry-lover asked looking at her friend confused before feeling a tug on her capris. "Hm? Zensoku? Do you know why Kage's acting weird?"

"Sentret sen! (A Pokémon that's what!)" The meerkat-like Pokémon responded nodding before pointing at a brown and tan bird-like Pokémon.

"A Pidgey? Those are rare here compared to Route 30 and 31." Anemoné said out loud as she remembered reading that in one of her many Pokémon books. "Hey Kage-!?"

Anemoné was abruptly cut off and began to sweat drop a waterfall when she saw the strange smirk that Kage now had. 'Oh boy. . .'

Another thing that the young berry lover had found out about Kage: NEVER (and she meant NEVER) cross path with Kage when she's smirking like that.

"I'll. . . just. . . stay over here. Heh heh heh?" Anemoné said laughing nervously before scooting closer to a tree and away from Kage.

Kage didn't seem to have noticed the nervous Anemoné and kept her eyes on the Pokémon. "Raikiri."

"Pichu pichu. (Got it.)" Raikiri responded also eyeing the Pokémon as electricity began to spark from her cheeks.

"Sentre sentret. . . (Oh boy. . .)" Zensoku said before plopping down next to Anemoné.

"Eev? Eevee eev. . . (Hm? I don't get it. . .)" Atsuko mumbled laying down on Anemoné's lap.

"Heh. Time to battle." Kage said as her bangs shadowed her eyes before she looked up alert. "Raikiri! Use Spark now!"

"Pichu pichu! (Better watch out 'cause here I come!)"

Raikiri began to charge at the Pidgey as the sparks from her cheeks became more intense.

"Pichuuuuu!!! (Take thiiiss!!!)"

The small mouse jumped before a burst of electricity, although weaker than thundershock, flew from Raikiri's small body heading towards the Pidgey.

Boom!

Raikiri landed safely on all fours and watched as the dust began to clear but the Pidgey. . . disappeared?!

"What the-?!" Kage whispered surprised before the sound of flapping was heard from above. "Huh? Ah! Raikiri, look out!"

"Pichu? (Huh?)" Raikiri gave a small look of confusion before a cry of pain. "Pichu! (Ah!)"

"Raikiri!" Kage shouted, worried as she saw the small Pokémon being tackled by the flying bird.

Suddenly, a strong wind current started to from the Pokémon's wing beats. "Pidgey! (Gust!)"

"Raikiri! Dodge it! Quick!"

"Pichu! (Right!)" Raikiri said as she pushed herself off the ground and into the air, surprising the opponent.

"Great! Now use Thundershock!"

"Pi. . . chuuuuu!!! (Thunder. . . shock!!!)"

The surge of electricity bursted from Raikiri hitting the surprised Pokémon and paralyzing it.

"Heh. Now. . . Go Pokéball!" Kage shouted throwing an empty red-and-white catching device at the immobilized creature.

A flash of red before the Pidgey disappeared into the Pokéball.

One shake. . . a red glow.

Two shake. . . another red glow.

Three shake. . . the light dimmed and the device became motionless.

Silence.

"It. . . worked?" Kage said blinking before it was finally registered in her mind. "Hey! It worked! Awesome job Raikiri!"

"Pichu pichu. Cha. . . (Heh heh. Thanks. . .)" Raikiri chirped happily as she rubbed the back of her head before falling onto her back swirly-eyed.

Kage picked up the tired Pokémon and hugged her before returning Raikiri to her Pokéball. "Go on and rest now, Raikiri."

"Hey Kage!" Kage turned and blinked before catching the object thrown at her. "You nearly forgot your new Pokémon."

"Huh? Oh. Oh! Oops. Man, I gotta stop doing that, huh?" Kage replied giving a sheepish grin.

"Yeah you do have to stop it but it's okay. That's what makes you, you." Anemoné said laughing a bit as Zensoku ran up to Kage looking curiously at the ball in her hand.

"Sentret sen? (So Pidgey's in there?)" Zensoku questioned before he was tackled by Atsuko. "Eevee eev eevee vee, vee? (Kind of obvious, don't ya think?)"

Zensoku puffed out his cheeks a bit as Lucifer sighed. "Cyndaquil quil cynda cynda. Cynda cyndaquil. . . (Stop teasing him, Atsuko. Besides, I wonder how Raikiri's feeling. . .)"

Right when Lucifer finished that thought, a flash of white light came from one of Kage's Pokéballs to reveal Raikiri, refreshed and alert. "Pichu pichu? (Someone said my name?)"

"You feeling alright now, Rai-Rai?" Kage asked bending as Raikiri jumped onto her right shoulder and bopped Kage on the head softly.

"Pichu pichu! Pichu pi pichu chu! (Of course I'm alright! And don't call me Rai-Rai!)" Raikiri said before pouting.

Kage laughed a bit before taking Pidgey's Pokéball and throwing it up into the air. "Well then, let's meet our new friend! Go! Tsubasa!"

A flash of white light before the Pidgey appeared, slightly ruffled. "Pidgey pidge? (Nngh, what happened?)"

Raikiri jumped down from her perch on Kage's shoulder and in front of the bird Pokémon, "Pichu pichu! (Welcome to the team!)"

"Pidgey? (Team?)"

Zensoku walked up to Tsubasa, "Sentret sentret sen sen. (Our trainer, Kage, caught ya so now you'll be with us, Tsubasa.)"

"Pidgey? Pidgey pidgey pidge? (Tsubasa? Why are you calling me that?)"

"Eevee eev! Vee vee eevee vee, eevee? (It's your name now! Plus, Pidgey gets kind of old saying all the time since there are a bunch of Pidgeys around, ya know?)" Atsuko piped up happily as she trotted over to the small group.

"Pidgey pidge. . . (I guess you're right. . .)"

"Cyndaquil quil cynda cyndaquil quil? Cyndaquil cynda! (Well, why don't we introduce ourselves properly now? I'm Lucifer by the way!)" The male fire mouse said rather politely.

"Pichu! Pi pichu? Cha! Pichu pichu, pichu chu! (Yeah! Why don't we? By the way! Raikiri's my name, shocking's my game!)" The female tiny mouse Pokémon piped up.

The male scout Pokémon sweatdropped at Raikiri's introduction before smiling at Tsubasa, "Sentret sen sentret. (I'm Zensoku.)"

"Eevee eev! Vee vee eevee eev! (And I'm Atsuko! Please to meet ya!)" The female evolution Pokémon chirped happily.

"Pidgey pidgey pidge pidge. Pidgey! (I'm Tsubasa, as you already know. Nice to meet you!)" The female tiny bird Pokémon responded.

"Well, since you guys are done introducing yourselves. I guess we should too, huh?"

Kage said out loud before smiling at them. "Kage Kuroi, as the other four already know."

"And I'm Anemoné Phoenix!" The berry lover added in before looking at the now slightly pink sky. "By the way, Kage, we should hurry and continue on now. it's about to get dark."

Kage looked up at the sky before nodding, "Yeah, you're right. Okay! Return now you guys!"

Three flashes of red light before Atsuko, Tsubasa, and Zensoku disappeared into their respective Pokéballs.

Raikiri and Lucifer jumped onto their trainers shoulders before all of them began to walk once more.

After about an hour of walking, Anemoné and Kage had reached a cave just as the sun began to set.

"I guess we have to go through this cave to get to Azalea Town. . ." Anemoné said out loud blinking as she stared at the entrance.

"Cyndaquil. . . (It's a bit dark. . .)" Lucifer mumbled from his perch.

"Pichu pichu! Pichu pichu chu! (No worries! A bit of darkness won't hurt us!)" Raikiri said jumping off of Kage's shoulder and running into the cave.

"Five. . ." Kage said beginning to count down.

"Four. . ." Anemoné gave Kage a look that said, "What in the name of Ho-Oh are you doing?"

"Three. . ." Kage said smirking a bit.

"Two. . ." Lucifer yawned a bit.

"One. . ." A faint sound from the cave.

"Zero."

"Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!! (Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!)"

A blur of yellow before the others saw Raikiri clinging onto Kage with anime tears running down her face.

Kage sighed a bit before giving the small Pokémon a look of amusement, "So what did you see, Raikiri-Chan?"

"Pipichupichupipipichuchu! (Idunnowhatitwasbutitwasscary!)" The tiny mouse Pokémon replied in one breath.

Kage patted Raikiri on the head a bit, "Saa. Is that so?" Raikiri nodded as an answer. "Yosh! Let's go then!"

"Pichu?!?! (Whaaat?!?!)"

**---Union Cave---**

"Pichu pichu! (I'm scared!)" Raikiri whimpered still clinging onto Kage.

"Don't worry Rai-Rai. It'll be fine. There aren't any ghost Pokémon here." Kage reassured but Raikiri still didn't let go.

Anemoné and Lucifer were both watching the scene while sweatdropping, "Well this wouldn't have happened if you didn't let Raikiri enter the cave all alone."

"Cyndaquil quil. . . (She's right, you know. . .)" Lucifer added in, looking at the female Pichu.

Kage sighed a bit, "Alright, alright. I get it already. Cut me some slack alright?"

After several moments of walking through the dark cave, Raikiri had fallen asleep in Kage's arms and Lucifer was trying to stay awake.

"Hm? Lucifer are you tired?" Anemoné questioned giving the fire mouse a concerned look.

"Cyndaquil cyndaquil quil. . . (No I'm not. I can stay awake. . .)" Lucifer mumbled before yawning a bit.

Anemoné raised an eyebrow, "Riiight, and I'm the gingerbread man. Come on let's get you inside your Pokéball, okays?"

Lucifer was about to respond but instead let out a yawn before nodding.

Anemoné smiled a bit before taking out Lucifer's Pokéball and returning him to it.

A yawn was then heard from Anemoné's companion making her raise an eyebrow at the embarrassed tomboy.

"Heh heh heh? Guess I'm tired too. . ." Kage said grinning sheepishly while blushing faintly.

"Why don't we get some sleep?" Anemoné suggested before taking out her Pokénav to check the time. "Wow! It's midnight already! Come on. Let's set up camp."

Kage just nodded as the two found a suitable place for them near a lake in the cave to set up their sleeping bags.

As they were about to sleep, Anemoné took out her Pokénav again and called her mother to say goodnight and how she ended up with Kage and the others.

After a couple of minutes she hung up and placed it next to her.

"Oyasumi nasai." Kage yawned before settling down in sleeping bag. Raikiri snuggled close to Kage's body heat.

"G'night, Kage." Anemoné mumbled back before all of them fell asleep listening to the soft 'drip, drip, drip' of the cave water.

**---Morning---**

Sunlight shone from a slight crack in the top of the cave towards Anemoné thus waking her up.

"Nngh. Morning already?" Anemoné mumbled, rubbing her eyes before checking the time. "Eight o'clock. . . Guess I should get ready. . ."

The berry girl yawned a bit while stretching before getting up, ready, and making breakfast.

An hour later, Kage and Raikiri's nose twitch slightly to the rich smell of food in the air before both sat up drooling a bit, still half-asleep.

"I smell food. . ."

"Pichu pichu. . . (Me too. . .)"

Both trainer and Pokémon looked towards the direction the smell was coming from before their eyes seem to light up, "Food/Pichu!!! (Food!!!)"

Within a flash, Kage had dressed and washed up along with Raikiri before the two were seen sitting in front of the sizzling food.

"Oh? You guys are awake now? 'Bout time." Anemoné teased making the other two stick out their tongues at her.

"Pichu? (Huh?)" Raikiri mumbled as if realizing something, which she did. "Pichu pichu pi cha? (Where's Lucifer?)"

"Oh!" Anemoné said a bit surprised before taking out two Pokéballs. "I had him returned to the Pokéball last night. We better let them out now for breakfast and all that."

Kage nodded in agreement and took out her Pokéballs as well.

"Come on out everyone!"

Four flashes of white light appeared before revealing Atsuko, Lucifer, Tsubasa, and Zensoku.

"Eevee eev? (Huh? What's up?)" Atsuko asked before yawning and plopping herself next to Raikiri.

"Pichu pichu, pichu? (The sky, what else?)" Raikiri replied still staring at the food.

"Sentret tret sentret sen. . . (You're starting to drool. . .)" Zensoku pointed out making Raikiri snap out of it and glare at him playfully.

"Cynda cyndaquil quil. (Good morning everyone.)" Lucifer mumbled before sitting on Anemoné's lap.

"Pidgey pidge! (Good morning!)" Tsubasa chirped happily before perching herself on Kage's left shoulder.

The tomboy smiled at the tiny bird before patting her on the head, "G'morning you guys."

"Yep! Good morning indeed!" Anemoné said happily as she placed several dishes of Pokémon food onto the floor before giving Kage her plate.

"Yaaay! Food!" The silver-eyed girl chirped happily before starting to eat as Tsubasa flew down to join the other Pokémon.

Anemoné smiled at the scene in front of her before giggling a bit as Zensoku began chasing Raikiri around for stealing his PokéFood.

However, the peaceful scene was soon disrupted as a large shadow covered the group.

"Nani?" Kage questioned softly before her eyes widen slightly at the sight. "Holy God of Chocolately Goodness."

In front of the group, and away from the body of water, stood the 28' 10" tall rock-like snake Pokémon, Onix.

"Kage. . ." Anemoné mumbled.

"Yeah?" Kage replied still staring at the huge Pokémon.

"Mind stepping back?" The berry girl said as she got into position.

"Hm? Oh! Sure. Raikiri, Zensoku, Tsubasa." Kage called out to her Pokémon making them look at her confused. "Fall back. Let Anemoné and the others take care of this."

The three Pokémon blinked before nodding and stayed close to Kage while allowing room for the battle to begin.

**---Battle: Start!---**

"Lucifer! Atsuko! Let's go!" Anemoné called out as her Pokémon took their places in front of her.

"ROAR!" Onix let out a loud roar before charging at the much smaller Pokémon.

"Quickly! Dodge it!" Anemoné shouted as the two Pokémon jumped out of the way and onto safely. "Now, Atsuko, use Sand-Attack! Lucifer, use Ember!"

"Eev! (Right!)" Atsuko chirped as she kicked up sand into Onix's eyes making him move backwards trying to get the sand out.

"Cyndaquil. Daaaaaaaaa!!! (My turn. Embeeeeeerrr!!!)" A jet of red flames engulfed Onix but when it died down, the rock snake was still conscious.

"Grrr-rrrawrrr!!" Another load roar before Onix thrashed his tail onto the side of the cave making rocks and debris fall down onto the Pokémon

"Ah! Lucifer! Atsuko!" Anemoné cried out, worried.

Luckily, however, both had dodged it but not without doing some damage to them.

Meanwhile, the others on the "sideline", look on worried except for Raikiri who was cheering them on while wearing a white-and-red headband and jacket as well as holding up fans.

"Come on you guys! You can do it! Lucifer use Smokescreen!"

"Cyn. . . daaaaa!!! (Smoke. . . screeeen!!!)"

Billows of black smoke soon covered part of the area as well as blinding Onix.

"Great job! Now, Atsuko! Use Tackle!" Anemoné commanded.

"Wait! Don't! It won't have much effect!" Kage shouted but her voice was drowned out by Onix's roar.

"Eev. . . vee! (Here I. . . come!)"

A full-body tackle towards Onix but Atsuko was knocked back, dizzy, as the attack did barely any damage.

"Atsuko! Are you okay?" Anemoné asked worriedly.

"Eevee eev. . . (Just dizzy. . .)" Atsuko responded swaying a bit with swirly-eyes.

"Cyndaquil cyndaquil! (Anemoné! It's my turn now!)" Lucifer said standing in front of Atsuko.

Anemoné nodded a bit, "Right! Lucifer let's finish this off! Use Ember!"

"Cyn'quil!!! (E'ber!!!)"

Another jet of hot flames, although noticeably bigger, was shot at Onix making the large rock snake fall to the ground weak.

"Lucifer. . . That was awesome!" Anemoné praised happily as Lucifer smiled back.

"Cyndaquil! (Thanks!)"

"Anemoné! Quickly! You're Pokéball!" Kage shouted from her place as the other three Pokémon were celebrating.

"Oh! Right! Pokéball! Go!" Anemoné said throwing the red-and-white device at Onix.

**---Battle: End!---**

One glow, one shake. . .

Another glow, another shake. . .

Last glow, last shake before the ball went completely motionless.

Anemoné shuffled towards the Pokéball and picked it up, "I did it. . . I did it! Alright!"

Anemoné laughed a bit and picked up the tired Eevee and Cyndaquil before twirling them around a bit, "And I couldn't have done it without you guys! So thanks!"

"Eevee evv. (No prob.)" "Cynda cyn. (You're welcome.)" The two replied before both fell asleep.

"Yeah. You guys should take a rest." Anemoné said smiling a bit before returning them to their Pokéball.

"Well. . . Let's clean up now and get going." Kage said walking up towards the berry lover as all of the Pokémon were returned to their Pokéball, except for Raikiri.

"Pichu pichu! (Congrats by the way!)"

"Ahaha! Thanks Raikiri! And, yeah, we should. Shouldn't we?" Anemoné replied whilst looking at the trashed place before sighing. "Well, let's get started."

After about half-an-hour of cleaning up and walking the rest of the cave, the two trainers finally exited the cave, passed Route 33, and entered Azalea Town but what's this? What's with all these weirdoes in the black get-up?

**(BONUS PART) ---Route 33---**

"Ne, ne. Anemoné-Chan. -"

"-Sigh- What is it _now_, Kage? -.-"

"-Sweatdrop- I was just wondering what you're gonna name your new Onix."

"Huh? Oh! Um. I'm not gonna name him anything."

"Eh? Really? o.o?"

"Yes, really. I mean, do I _have_ to name every single Pokémon I catch? e.e "

"Hm. Good point. ."

"Great! Now, can we _please_ walk in peace and quiet?"

"Oka-Hey! What's that suppose to mean?! x.x "

"Pichu pichu. (It means your loud.) -.-"

"Mou, Rai-Rai's being mean to me again. T-T"

". . . Pichu pichu pi? (. . . How many chocolate did you eat?)"

"Not a lot. Only about ten bars. "

"TEN BARS?! O.O"

"Cynda. . . quil quil cynda. . . (She's. . . starting to bounce around now. . .) o.oU"

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

"-Sigh- Someone kill me now. . "

"Pichu! (Okay!) --"

BZZT!

"OW! Geez Louise Raikiri! I didn't mean it literally!"

"Pichu pichu! (Wah! I'm sorry!) T-T"

"Cyndaquil. . . (Weirdoes. . .) -.-"

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**A/N: **So, how was it? We hope it wasn't sappy. Thanks for reading! And the next chapter will be up soon. Oh by the way we're going to be mixing in Jesse, James's, Cassidy's, Botch—err I mean Butch's motto together, so until then! Happy Readings.


	2. The 'Awesome Rocket Trio'

**We don't own Pokémon or anything related to it; it belongs to Satoshi Tajiri.**  
**The other characters however were created by us, Naoko & Miharu.  
We hope you enjoy **_Johto Beginnings_

* * *

**---Outskirts of Azalea Town---**

"Oro? What's that?" Kage questioned out loud as they neared what looked like a well and a cave with a man in front of it.

"Hm. . . I don't know. Wanna check it out?" Anemoné asked as she looked at the now-calm but curious tomboy.

"I guess so. Ne, Raikiri-chan do you want to check it out?" Kage said to the tiny mouse after shrugging at the berry girl.

"Pichu pichu, pi? (Sure! How about you, Lucifer?)" Raikiri said before turning and asking the fire mouse.

"Cydaquil quil. (As long as it isn't _too_ wet then okay.)" Lucifer agreed while nodding.

"Yosh! Let's check it out!" Kage said grinning with her arms behind her head and walking towards the cave.

As the two girls got closer towards the cave, they could clearly see a man wearing a black uniform of some sort with a red "R" on the front.

". . ." Kage didn't say anything and blinked a bit but Raikiri, on the other hand, did. "Pichu pichu chu chu pichu chu! (What a weird get-up! Even Kage dresses better than that!)"

"Oi! What does that mean?!" Kage said scowling a bit before going quiet when the man turned to them with a glare.

"Hey! What are you twerps doing here?!"

Anemoné sweat dropped a bit, "Ahahaha. We're not doing anything. Honest! We just happen to be passing this way!"

The man's glare hardened, "Yeah? Well, get out of here then!"

"Yes'sir!" And with that, the two girls ran towards town with their Pokémon.

After about five minutes, they stopped just outside the town.

"Man, that was scary." Anemoné mumbled as Kage nodded in agreement.

"Pichu chu. . . (He's a big meanie. . .)" Raikiri mumbled making Kage nod again.

"Cyndaquil quil cynda cyndaquil quil. . . cyndaquil quil cyn cynda cyndaquil. . . (I wonder if he reincarnated from a Mankey. . . But then again, a Mankey's better looking then him.)" Lucifer mumbled making the other three laugh out loud.

"Hey! You two twer-I mean-kids over there!"

All of them tensed a bit thinking that it was the man in black again but to their surprise it was a teenage boy and girl in weird striped suits.

'Don't laugh. Don't laugh. Don't laugh.' Kage repeated over in her head as her cat ears appeared again twitching.

"Erm. Hello?" Anemoné said with a rather large fake grin but it convinced the two.

"Would you two like to buy some Slowpoke Tail?" The female said smiling at them although her eyebrow seemed to twitch.

All of them blinked incredulous, "A _what_?!"

"A Slowpoke Tail, of course! It's nutritious and delicious!" The man replied smiling at them although he seemed to twitch a bit.

Kage's cat ears were pressed back onto her head as her eyes narrowed, "Nani?! Don't tell me that you're cut-!"

"Kage!" Anemoné scolded as Kage gritted her teeth and turned away.

"Pichu pichu! Pichu pichu chu! (Kage! That guy! He's-! Is he-!)" Raikiri questioned worried that someone might cut _her_ tail off as she clinged onto Kage.

"I don't know. . ." Kage mumbled grumpily still glaring at the pair who didn't even seem phased by her outburst.

"Now, mister. Is the Slowpoke Tail. . . you know. . ." Anemoné asked cautiously while holding Lucifer who was also glaring at them.

"Of course! We sell the real things, you know?" The man replied cheerfully as the others soon turned pale.

Kage grabbed Anemoné's hand while holding Raikiri in her other and began running. "Yeah! Well, we aren't gonna buy anything from you creeps!"

But before they could fully run away, a Drowzee and a Delibird appeared in front of them.

"What the-!" Kage said surprised skidding to a stop before turning around to see a Shuckle and a Krabby. "Nngh."

"Kage. . ." Anemoné mumbled as the two now stood back-to-back. "What should we do?"

"I'll tell you what you're supposed to do."

However, it wasn't Kage who responded.

"Prepare for trouble!" The female started.

"And make it double!" The male continued.

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all people within every nation!"

"To denounce the evil of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Karin!"

"Kyle!"

"We're the Awesome Rocket Trio and fighting with all our might!"

"Surrender now or lose your Pokémon and the fight!"

"Kecleon, that's right!" The green Pokémon shouted as he, at last, showed up in between the two now-identified people.

"You guys again!" Kage shouted annoyed but secretly wanting to laugh along with Raikiri who was rolling on the floor her butt off laughing at the motto.

"What exactly are you three doing here! And did you steal these Pokémon as well?" Anemoné shouted angrily as Lucifer began poking the still-laughing Pichu in the background.

Karin gained an anime vein at that comment, "What? No way! These Pokémon are ours!"

"Yeah! We caught them like any other Pokémon when we were little!" Kyle added in as he glared at them.

"Kind of hard to believe." Kage mumbled under her breath as Raikiri finally stopped laughing but still held a grin on her face.

"What'd you say?" Karin growled under her breath about to tackle the tomboy but Kyle held her back.

"Calm down, Karin. We're here to beat them down for last time 'membered?" Kyle said calming the other girl down.

"Humph! Fine! Let's go!" Karin commanded as Delibird and Drowzee took their position.

Kage was about to take out her Pokéballs when another voice cut them off.

"Charmander! Use Ember on Delibird now!"

"Chaaaaaaar!!! (Embeeerrr!!!)"

A jet of hot flames scorched the delivery Pokémon causing her to faint.

"Huh? Who was that?" Anemoné mumbled before a boy with short and spiky ivory-silver hair appeared walking "coolly" towards them.

"Long time no see, Kuroi." The boy said smirking at Kage only to receive a blank but confused look from her.

"And you are. . . ?" Kage said blinking in confusion making the boy sweat drop before it turned into multiple anime veins.

"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU DON'T REMEMBER ME?!?!" The boy shouted as his anime veins throbbed on his head.

"Ow. . ." Kage mumbled as she checked to see if her ears worked. "What do you mean by 'remember'? Did I meet you before?"

"Pichu pichu, pichu? (We battled with him, 'member?)" Raikiri said but the only thing she got was question marks around Kage.

"Pichu? (Charmander?)" Raikiri sighed while sweat dropping and pointing to the fire lizard.

Kage blinked and looked at the fire lizard before her eyes lit up in realization. "Oh yeah! I remember now! Hiya Charmander! How're you?"

The boy fell over anime style as the oblivious tomboy crouched down to pet the Pokémon on his head.

"Charmander char! Char! (You 'membered me! Yay!)" Charmander chirped happily as he hugged the silver-eyed girl.

"He. . . remembered. . . Charmander. . . but. . . not me. . . me, his rival. . ." The boy mumbled with a depressed aura around him while crouching near a tree.

"Pi. . . Pichu chu. (Aw. . . Don't worry.)" Raikiri mumbled patting the boy on the back.

Anemoné and Lucifer, who were watching all of this silently, sweat dropped a waterfall.

"Anno. . . I don't want to interrupt but who exactly are you?" The berry lover asked the golden-eyed boy while thinking. 'He? His? That guy thinks that Kage's a guy? Well, I wouldn't blame him since I thought Kage was a guy too...'

"Hm? Oh! My name's Shiroi Fuyu, Kuroi's rival, and you are?" Kage's rival said before looking at the berry girl confused.

"My name's Anemoné Phoenix from Cherrygrove City! Nice to meet you!" Anemoné said happily putting her hand out for a handshake. 'Better not say anything about it. . .'

"Likewise, Miss Phoenix." Shiroi said smiling a bit.

"Err. . . Just call me Anemoné. Miss sounds too weird." Anemoné said sweat dropping a bit. 'A bit polite, ne?'

"Sure. Now if only Kuroi can actually remember that I'm his rival. . ." The boy mumbled giving the still oblivious girl a look before sighing. "Oh well."

Anemoné sweat dropped a bit before laughing nervously, "Yeah. Well, that's Kage alright." 'If she did remember him after one brief meeting then I would think that she's an imposter.'

"Cyndaquil, quil? (Anemoné, what now?)" Lucifer asked tugging on Anemoné capris a bit making her snap out of her train of thoughts.

"Oh! Right! Um. Kage?" The berry lover called to her tomboy friend.

"Hm? Yeah? What's up?" Kage asked blinking a bit as she stood up and held Charmander in her arms.

Anemoné was about to reply but Karin was already fed up. "Hey twerps! We're battling here, remember? But it doesn't matter now! Drowzee! Use Hypnosis!"

Drowzee began to move his hands in a strange pattern as Raikiri, who was staring, started to sway.

"Eh? Nani?! Raikiri!" Kage shouted running towards the tiny mouse as Charmander jumped out of her arms.

"Etto. . . Raikiri?" Kage mumbled before sweat dropping as she noticed that the tiny mouse Pokémon had fallen asleep and sighed taking out Raikiri's Pokéball. "Return."

"Heh heh heh. How'd you like that?" Karin bragged not noticing the dark aura starting to form around the tomboy now.

"How'd I like that?" Kage whispered coldly as she grasped Tsubasa's Pokéball. "I'll show you how I _liked_ it!!! Go! Tsubasa! I choose you!"

**---Battle: Start!---**

A flash of white light before it revealed the brown-and-tan bird Pokémon Pidgey.

"Pidgey pidge! (A battle!)"

"Come on Tsubasa! Let's show these guys the 'gift' they receive for hurting one of our friends!!"

"Pidgey?! Pidgey pidge?! Pidgey! Pidgey pidge! (What? They hurt our friend? That's it! Payback time!)" Tsubasa cawed angrily.

"Alright Tsubasa! Use Quick Attack on Drowzee now!"

"Pidge! (Right!)"

From the sky, Tsubasa swooped downwards as a blur towards the surprised hypnosis Pokémon hitting him directly in the chest.

"Now! Use Gust! Blow 'em away!"

Tsubasa let out another angry caw before flapping her wings quickly and strongly as a gust of wind blew Drowzee towards a tree unconscious.

**---Battle: End!---**

"Heh. And that's what you get for messing with my Pokémon." Kage said smirking at them before grinning at Tsubasa, "And great job Tsubasa! You were awesome!"

"Pidgey, pidge! (Aw, thanks!)" Tsubasa chirped happily rubbing her cheek against Kage's before she was returned to her Pokéball.

"My Drowzee. . . I didn't even get a chance to attack. . ." Karin mumbled shocked as she fell to the ground wide-eyed.

Kyle glared at the group in front of him celebrating before gaining an anime vein, "We're not done yet! I still have my Pokémon! Let's go! Shuckle! Use Constrict now!"

"Shuckle shuck! (Take this!)"

One of the mold Pokémon's foreleg stretched towards the group and wrapped it around all of them immobilizing them.

"Ah! What the-!" Anemoné yelled slightly as it tightened.

"Grr! Damn it! I can't get out!" Shiroi shouted trying to break free.

"Nngh. What should we do now?" Kage mumbled as her cat ears appeared once more but this time it dropped down sadly.

"Cyndaquil quil! (You forgot about us!)" Lucifer piped up from besides Anemoné.

"Charmander char! (And me too!)" The fire lizard said from besides Shiroi.

"Oh! That's right! Lucifer use Ember on that Shuckle!" Anemoné said smiling.

"You too Charmander!" Shiroi commanded as the two fire Pokémon nodded.

"Cynda/Char! (Right!)"

With that, both took a deep breath and shot out a burst of flame engulfing the Shuckle.

"Alright!" The two trainers of the fire Pokémon cheered but they were cut off by Kage's shout. "It's not over yet, you guys!"

As the flames died away, it revealed Shuckle withdrawn into it's shell but everyone was still trapped.

"What?! No way!!" Shiroi shouted before glaring at them.

"Heh. Not so tough now, eh?" Kecleon piped up after watching the group's effort very amused.

"Cyn/Char. . . (Grr. . .)" The fire Pokémon growled whilst tensed.

"AHAHAHAHA!!!" Karin laughed from besides Kyle completely happy again. "Now what are you going to do, twerps?"

"I may not know what they're going to do but I'll tell you what I will!" A different voice said from above. "I'll beat all of your asses!"

"Huh?" Everyone said out loud with question marks around them before. . .

CRACK!

THUMP!

OOF!

"Ow. . . Note to self: Never climb that high again. . ." A boy with messy brown hair and grey eyes and around Anemoné's age, mumbled under his breath.

"What the-Ed?! What are you doing here?!" Anemoné shouted as she gained an anime vein.

Ed got up and brushed himself off, "Nice to see you again, Anemoné. Not."

Anemoné puffed out her cheeks in anger as she glared at the smirking boy in front of her.

Kage blinked a bit, "Anno. . . Who is he, Anemoné-Chan?"

Anemoné sighed a bit before explaining a bit cross, "His name is Ed Niigata and he's from Cherrygrove City as well."

"We're also rivals, as I'm pretty sure you can tell." The brown haired boy added in before smirking at the berry lover. "Although I am much better a trainer then her."

"IS NOT!" Anemoné shouted angrily.

"Ow. . . My ears. . ." Kage mumbled rubbing her ears with her hands.

". . ." Silence from the others.

"Huh? What's up you guys?" Kage asked giving them a confused look.

"Kage. . . You're hands are free now. . ." Shiroi pointed out making the tomboy blink.

"Huh?" Kage looked at herself and sure enough her hands weren't bounded to her sides anymore and rejoiced. "Alright! I'm free! Err. . . Sort of anyways."

"Kage! Send out a Pokémon now!" Anemoné said making the other girl nod.

"Usu!" Kage said grabbing Zensoku's Pokéball and throwing it into the air. "I choose you! Zensoku!"

"Sentret sen! (My turn!)" The scout Pokémon said as he stood on his tail in front of the group.

"Zensoku! Use Tackle on that Shuckle now!" Kage commanded.

"Sen! (Right!)"

The brown scout Pokémon jumped onto all fours and ran towards the still withdrawn Pokémon before doing a full-body tackle on it and a direct hit!

The foreleg that had constricted the group was released as everyone got into a position.

"Ah! What should we do Karin?" Kyle panicked as Karin sweat dropped a bit. "Um. I-I don't know."

"Why don't we just battle 'em?" Kecleon shouted as he joined the Shuckle and the Krabby.

"Hey Ed! Mind giving a hand?" Kage said smirking a bit. The evil trio stepped back a bit nervous.

"Heh. No problem." The brown haired boy said before throwing a Pokéball into the air. "I choose you! Chikorita!"

The light green leaf Pokémon appeared with a determined look on her face. "Chika! (Let's go!)"

"Don't forget about us, Kage." Anemoné said as Cyndaquil jumped in front of her.

"And us." Shiroi said smirking a bit as Charmander stood in front of him.

Karin seemed to have gotten her courage back and stepped up, "Hey! Four against three isn't fair!"

"Yeah! That it isn't!" Kyle said backing her up.

The group gave them an "evil" smirk making the trio sweat drop again.

"Why not?" Kage taunted.

"After all, you did the same with us." Anemoné added in.

"So we should-" Shiroi continued.

"-do the same!" Ed finished.

"Zensoku! Use Fury Swipes!" Kage ordered as Zensoku nodded.

"Sentret! (Take this!)" Slashes from the scout's claws appeared multiple times on the Krabby.

"Now! Chikorita!" Ed called out. "Use Razor Leaf and finish it!"

"Chika! (Right!)" The grass Pokémon swished the leaf on her head once as razor-sharp leaves hit a direct hit and knocked the Pokémon out.

Anemoné grinned a bit as Shiroi smirked, "It's our turn now! Lucifer/Charmander! Use double Ember now!"

"Char/Cynda!! (Right!)" Two streams of hot red flames intertwined and engulfed Shuckle knocking the mold Pokémon onto the unconscious crab Pokémon.

"Eeeek! What now Karin?" Kyle shouted, worried as the two hugged each other for dear life.

"I don't know! Kecleon do something!" Karin shouted back.

"Hold ya horses, will ya?" The green chameleon said annoyed but before he could do anything a flash of white light came from one of Kage's Pokéball to reveal. . .

One.

Pissed.

Off.

Raikiri.

Sparks crackled from her cheeks as the tiny mouse Pokémon stared at the trio coldly.

"Heh." Kage smirked a bit. "Glad that you woke up, Raikiri."

"Pichu pichu pi chu. (Glad I did too.)" Raikiri said smirking a bit as well.

"Uh-oh." The trio said out loud as they froze in terror.

"Raikiri! Finish them off!!"

"Pi pichu! Pi. . . chuuu!!! (Gladly! Thunder. . . shooock!!!)"

A burst of golden electricity.

BOOM!

"THE ROCKET TRIO'S SIGNING OFF AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT!!!" -Ding.-

"They changed the ending." Anemoné mused.

"That they did." Kage agreed before picking up Raikiri and twirling her around happily. "And glad you're awake now! I was getting worried!"

"Chaaa! Pi pichu chu pichu! Pichu pichu chu chu pi pichu! (Ahaha! I'm glad too! Plus, I feel even better now that I've gotten my revenge!)" Raikiri said happily rubbing cheeks with Kage.

". . . I'm starting to think that Kuroi's a girl. . ." Shiroi mumbled under his breath as Ed blinked.

Anemoné, who had heard that, sweat dropped a waterfall. 'He really _does_ think that Kage's a guy! Man, I wonder how he'd react when he finds out otherwise. . .'

* * *

**A/N:** Yay, another chapter! We hope you liked this chapter, and stay tuned! The next chapter is underway! Until then, Happy Readings :) 


	3. What's Bugging Azalea Town!

**We don't own Pokémon or anything related to it; it belongs to Satoshi Tajiri.  
The other characters however were created by us, Naoko & Miharu.  
We hope you enjoy **_Johto Beginnings_

* * *

"Kage." Anemoné whispered sharply to the tomboy walking next to her.

"Yeah?" The silver-eyed tomboy mumbled with a bored look on her face.

"Explain this to me again. _Why_ are _they_, or rather _Ed_, coming with us?!" Anemoné mumbled annoyed as she glared at the brown-haired boy's back.

Kage sighed a bit, "They're coming with us because they helped us and since we're all going to Azalea Town we might as well stay together. Plus, it's getting late."

Anemoné's head seemed to have dropped as a depressed aura surrounded her.

"Cyndaquil. (It's okay, Anemoné.)" Lucifer said patting his trainer on the head comfortingly.

"Pichu pichu chu. (Plus, you might be able to find out his weakness.)" Raikiri added in trying to cheer up the berry girl.

"Ah! That's right!" Anemoné said punching her right hand onto the palm of her left. "I can gain data this way. Heh heh heh heh."

Kage sweatdropped before twitching a bit, 'Data? Tch. Reminds me of a doctor. . . An _evil_ doctor that is.'

"Oi! Would you guys hurry up already?! It's going to get dark!" Ed shouted towards the other two.

"Oh zip it, Ed no baka!" Anemoné shouted back at her rival with an anime vein before the two had began arguing once more.

Shiroi, who was walking next to Ed, sweatdropped and stood next to Kage instead. "I don't even think that we fight _that_ much."

Kage shrugged, "Only about twice. . . I think. . . Hm? Oh! A HootHoot! Hiya Mister HootHoot!"

Shiroi sighed at Kage's short-attention span while sweatdropping. 'And this is the guy that I lost too. . . Hm?'

"Kage!" The silver haired boy said surprised making the tomboy stop abruptly.

"Huh? What's up?" Kage asked as the other two stopped arguing and looked at them confused.

Kage followed Shiroi's gaze before her eyes widen as well. "Holy. . ."

"Eh? Kage-chan? What's up?" Anemoné asked her friend confused.

"Other than the sky, mind taking a look at the town?" Kage responded as her shock wore off.

"Oh darn it." Ed said from beside them.

The town was completely filled with people dressed up in black with a red 'R' on their shirts.

"Pichu pi. . . (They're dressed like the previous weirdo. . .)" Raikiri mumbled a bit dejected.

"Cyndaquil quil. . . (Something doesn't feel right. . .)" Lucifer added in.

The two boys of the group nodded in agreement.

"Kuroi. Anemoné. Return your Pokémon to their Pokéball just in case these guys are going to take them from you." Shiroi said to the girls.

"Right. Lucifer. Return." Anemoné said as her Cyndaquil disappeared in a flash of red light.

"Come on, Raikiri. I'll let you out when we're in a safe place, 'kay? Plus, it's not like I want you stuck inside." Kage mumbled to the tiny mouse.

"Pichu pichu. . . (Fine but I still don't like the Pokéball. . .)" Raikiri mumbled glaring at the Pokéball but returned into it either way.

"We should pretend we're tourists as to reduce suspicion and if they ask why we're in Azalea instead of Goldenrod then say that you wanted to travel everywhere, 'kay?" Shiroi mumbled softly as they neared the town.

"Got'cha." Kage said smirking. 'This will be a cinch. Especially since I was already planning to travel everywhere.'

"Well, then, let's go." Anemoné said a bit nervous.

"Scared, Anemoné?" Ed teased making her puff out her cheeks in anger again.

"You wish!" Anemoné retorted crossing her arms around her chest and walking faster.

The other two sighed but followed along.

**---Inside Azalea Town---**

"This place would have a quaint feel to it if it weren't all these weirdoes." Kage mumbled to Anemoné who nodded in return.

"Look. There's the Pokémon Center!" Ed said pointing at a large white building with a Pokéball on it.

"Come on. Let's go!" Shiroi said as they neared it but soon stopped abruptly when they saw two of the men in front of it.

"Uh-oh." Kage mumbled.

"What now?" Anemoné asked the boys. "If we go in then they'll know for sure we're trainers!"

"Hm. . ." Shiroi mumbled before he noticed a lit house to the left. "Let's go there. And hopefully, it's a normal person living there."

"Well, then. What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Ed said as he began walking to the house with everyone following in tow.

Silence for a moment.

"Wow." Anemoné mumbled looking at the dojo-like house.

"Yeah. . ." Kage mumbled in agreement.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Shiroi had rapped the door gently and waited until the sliding doors finally slid open a bit to reveal a little girl about six or seven years old.

"Um. . . Hello." The little girl said softly and cautiously.

Anemoné smiled at the girl, "Hello. Are there any adults in the house? We need a place to stay."

The girl smiled a bit before frowning, "There's Grandpa but he left a while ago. . ."

Anemoné blinked a bit before giving the girl a concerned look and turning to the others. "Where do you think her grandpa is? It's not safe for her to stay alone. . ."

Kage put on a thinking face before smiling at Anemoné and the girl, "I'll go search for him if you want."

The little girl smiled brightly, "Thank you! My name's Amy by the way!"

Kage grinned at her, "Well, then, Amy. My name's Kage."

The silver-eyed tomboy then elbowed the others making them flinch.

"I'm Shiroi." The silver haired boy said giving a quick smile before glaring at the snickering tomboy.

"And I'm Ed." The grey-eyed boy mumbled before scowling at the now-grinning Anemoné.

Amy nodded happily before a gruff voice shouted at the group.

"Hey! What are you creeps doing at my dojo?! Get away from there and from my grand-daughter!"

WHACK!

"Ow. . ." Kage mumbled as she crouched down and rubbed her head where a broom had hit her.

"Grandpa! Don't hurt them! They're nice! And they're not with those bad people!" Amy said as Anemoné began panicking at the sight of blood trickling from Kage's forehead.

"Huh? They're not with those ruffians?" The voice said confused.

"No we're not. We're trainers and we were going to go to the Gym when we noticed those weirdoes out there and decided to stay low to figure out what's going on." Ed said annoyed.

"And then we decided to come here to find out anything since the Pokémon Center was blocked by some of those men." Shiroi added in.

"Um. . . Sorry to interrupt but Kage's bleeding here!!!" Anemoné shouted before it was waved off by Kage.

"No worries. It's only a small cut. I'll live." The tomboy said getting off of the floor still holding her forehead.

"Ah! Sorry about that. With all of those Rockets out there I was worried that they were going to take Amy away from me." The voice said before he stepped into the light.

"Come in, come in. I'll fix up that wound and explain everything. By the way, my name's Kurt." The old man sighed walking inside the dojo as Amy followed close behind.

After Kage's head was wrapped with white bandages, all of them sat around a low tea table.

"It was about three days ago, that Team Rocket had invaded our home." Kurt started as he poured some tea for everyone. "And it had happened once before as well but luckily a young fellow named Ash Ketchum and his friends stopped them."

"Team Rocket? Hm. Hey." Shiroi said softly to the others. "Wasn't the trio that we encountered had 'rocket' in their names?"

Anemoné nodded a bit, "Yeah. We met them before in Violet City when they stole some of the Pokémon that Falkner were training and posed as him as well."

"But, of course, we didn't know about that until after words." Kage added in before realization hit her. "Oh yeah! I have to let Raikiri out now!"

Anemoné blinked a bit before sweatdropping, "Oh yeah. . ."

Kurt and Amy blinked, confused, and before two flashes of white light appeared and revealed the female Pichu and the male Cyndaquil.

"Wow! A Pichu and a Cyndaquil!" Amy whispered in awe as she walked towards them before kneeling and petting them on the head.

Kage gave a soft laugh, "Yeah. They are amazing, huh? Well, anyways, this is Raikiri and that's Anemoné's Cyndaquil, Lucifer! Guys, this is Amy."

"Pichu pichu! (Hiya Amy!)" Raikiri said happily before jumping onto Kage's lap and looking at the bandages concerned. "Pichu? (What happened?)"

Ed snickered a bit, "Kage there got smacked by a broom."

Kage sweatdropped as Raikiri began laughing her butt off again. "Ha ha ha. Very funny."

"Cyndaquil quil. . . (She laughs too much. . .)" Lucifer mumbled as he allowed Amy to pick him up and pet him.

Anemoné sighed a bit as Shiroi's right eyebrow twitched a bit.

"Ahem." Kurt cleared his throat a bit making Raikiri stop laughing and hide behind Kage's jacket. "Pichu. . . (Scary. . .)"

"Anyways. . ." Kurt continued. "Team Rocket, just as they are doing now, had kidnapped the town's Slowpokes and is cutting their tails off!"

Shock and surprise ran through the group before it turned to anger.

"WHAT?!" Anemoné and Kage shouted angrily.

"It's true. . ." Amy said softly and sadly. "They took our family Slowpoke, Pocky, as well. . ."

"We'll get it back and all of the other ones too." Ed said determined. "People like that disgust me."

The other three and their Pokémon nodded in agreement.

"It's settled then! Let's go!" Kurt said standing up and rushing out of the dojo faster then you can say "The Slowpoke Brothers."

"He's. . . fast. . ." Kage mumbled as Raikiri jumped onto her shoulder. "Well, then, like the old guy said. Let's go!"

"Right!" Everyone shouted and they were about to leave when Anemoné turned to Amy. "But someone should stay with her. . ."

**---At the Slowpoke Well---**

The group had managed to sneak past the Rocket members and towards the well.

"Yosh! Let's rescue those Slowpokes!" Anemoné said happily as Lucifer jumped onto her shoulders.

'Well. . . At least she's happy. . .' Kage and Shiroi thought at the same time while sweatdropping.

Meanwhile, back at the dojo, Amy was fast asleep next to a twitching and tied-up Ed. 'I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY DID THAT!!!'

As they entered the well, they looked around a bit and blinked as they tried to get use to the darkness.

"Kurt?" Anemoné whispered trying to see the old man.

"Over here you guys." His voice said from the right of them.

All three of them turned to see Kurt sitting on the floor.

"Ah! Are you alright?" Anemoné asked a bit panicked.

"Yes, yes. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I just slipped on the water when I came down here." Kurt sighed a bit annoyed with himself. 'Just like last time too. . .'

"I'll get him out of here." Shiroi said as he crouched down to the elderly man. "Besides, I only have Charmander and he's a fire-type so he won't be able to work his best in this wet cave."

Kage looked a bit surprised at Shiroi's actions and words but nodded nonetheless, "Alright. But you guys, be careful, 'kay?"

Shiroi nodded as he began to walk out of the well with Kurt on his back, "You should too. After all, you still owe me a battle from last time."

Kage smirked, "Heh. Don't worry. I will."

"Pichu pichu pi cha! (Yuppers! No worries! I'll look after her!)" Raikiri said making Kage pout a bit before sighing. "Anyways. Come on Anemoné."

The berry lover nodded as and followed the tomboy as they feel along the walls.

After several moments of walking, the two girls stopped behind several boulders as they heard voices.

". . .Is. . . all. . . Slowpokes?"

"Yup. . . we start?"

Kage and Anemoné looked at each other before nodding.

"Stop right there!" Kage shouted and stepped out from behind the boulders as Raikiri jumped onto the giant rocks.

"Huh? What the-?! Hey! It's you again!" The man from the entrance shouted angrily.

Kage was about to reply but instead burst out laughing at the fact that the man was covered, from head to toe, in muddy water.

The man turned red from anger before throwing a Pokéball into the air, "Grrr. . . Go! Zubat! Teach these twerps a lesson!"

"You'd think that they would've created a better insult for us." Kage mumbled sweatdropping a bit before turning to Raikiri. "Let's go!"

**---Battle: Start!---**

"Zubat! Use Supersonic!" The Team Rocket commanded.

"Zu zu zu bat! (Supersonic.)"

The Zubat opened his mouth and sent out waves of sound.

"Chu! (Ah!)" Raikiri covered her ears but was still affected by the move and swayed from one foot to the other, dizzy.

"Raikiri! Try to snap out of it!" Kage shouted to the tiny mouse.

**---Meanwhile with Anemoné---**

"Humph. While those idiots are battling away. I'll finish up here and then get the big reward!" The female Rocket said happily.

"Not so fast!" Anemoné shouted from behind the Rocket.

"Huh?! How'd you get back here?!" The woman shouted angrily.

"Heh. That's easy to answer. Your idiotic companion is too engrossed in the battle that my friend is faking to buy me time. Now let go of those Pokémon!" Anemoné ordered.

"Hah! As if! If you want them then you have to go through me!" The women replied before tossing her Pokéball into the air. "Go! Ekans!"

Anemoné grinned a bit, "Let's play, Lucifer." "Cynda! (Yeah!)"

**---Battle: Start!---**

"Ekans! Use Wrap now!" The Rocket commanded.

"Ekansss. (Rightsss.)"

The purple snake slithered towards the fire mouse and tried to wrap her body around his but Lucifer's flames ignited on his back, sending Ekans back.

"Lucifer! Use Smokescreen!" Anemoné ordered.

"Cyndaquil! (Smokescreen!)"

The tiny fire mouse breathed out black smoke covering and blinding the foe.

"Great! Now use Ember!"

"Quil!!! (Ember!!!)"

A blast of flames covered the area and heated things up a bit before Lucifer stopped the attack.

"Curse. . . you. . . twerps. . ." The Rocket female coughed before she fell to the floor unconscious along with her Pokémon.

**---Battle: End!---**

"Hah hah! Great job! Lucifer!" Anemoné chirped happily while hugging the fire mouse.

"Cynda cynda! (Hah hah! Thanks!)" Lucifer replied before a yell of surprise from Kage's battle caused the two to look back.

"No. . . way. . ." Anemoné whispered shocked at the scene she saw.

**---During Kage's Battle---**

"Heh heh. You can't get away from me now! Use Leech Life!" The Rocket sneered before ordering his Zubat to attack.

"Zubat! (Take this!)"

The blue-and-purple bat fluttered towards the tiny mouse, fangs bared.

"Ah! Raikiri! Get out of the way!" Kage shouted.

"Pi? Pichu? (Huh? What?)" Raikiri mumbled before shaking her head and getting rid of the confusion.

"Get out of the way! Now!" Kage yelled towards her Pokémon.

Too late. Zubat had sunken his fangs into Pichu's neck.

"Raikiri!!!/Pi!!! (Ah!!!)"

Zubat tossed the electric Pokémon aside and fluttered back into the air seemingly satisfied.

"Raikiri. . ." Kage mumbled in shock. "Raikiri! Get up! Come on, Raikiri! Get up. Get. . . up."

Kage bit the bottom of her lip as her hair covered her face. "Raikiri. . ."

"WHAT THE-?!?!"

Kage looked up in surprise at the Rocket's yell of surprise before her eyes widen in shock.

Raikiri was glowing!

"No-" Kage whispered as Raikiri's original form began to change. "-way. . ."

Her yellow longer-than-before black-tipped ears (with a small tuff of fur at the end) twitched slightly at Kage's voice as her lightning-shaped tail moved from side-to-side.

"Pi? (Kage?)" Raikiri said blinking a bit. "Pi chu chu pikachu? (Why do I feel weird?)"

Kage closed her eyes for moment to dry up her tears before grinning at the electric Pokémon, "Just take a look at yourself."

"Pika? (Huh?)" Raikiri looked down before jumping in surprise and running towards a puddle of water to see her reflection. "Pikachu! Pika pikachu! (Hey! I evolved!)"

"Yup!" Kage chirped happily but her grin soon diminished, however, as she glared at the Rocket. "But now for some payback time."

Raikiri also looked at the Rocket with the same look, "Pika pika pikachu. (Don't think I forgot what you did.)"

"Nngh!" The Rocket let out stepping back a bit before glaring at Kage and Raikiri. "Even if that rat got bigger! You'll still lose!"

Both Kage and Raikiri twitched in annoyance and anger. "Rat? Got bigger? Lose? Oh, he is _so_ going down. Right Raikiri?"

"Pikachu. (That's right.)" Raikiri said as she now stood in front of Kage with sparks of electricity flying from her red electric cheek pouches.

The Rocket, once again, stepped backwards in fear as the sparks hit the ground and crackled around the mouse Pokémon.

"Raikiri! Let's go! Use Thunderbolt now!" Kage commanded.

"Pika. . . chuuu!!! (Thunder. . . bolt!!!)" Raikiri shouted before releasing an even greater power of electricity and sending it to the Rocket and his Zubat.

"ARRGGHHH!!!"

Ka-boooom!!!

**---Battle: End!---**

"Finally. . ." Kage mumbled before sighing a bit from relief.

"Pi pikachu! (Kage! We did it! And I evolved!)" Raikiri exclaimed before jumping into the tomboy's arms.

Kage grinned widely and hugged Raikiri as they rubbed against each others cheek happily, "Yup! That you did! Awesome job by the way!"

"Pi pika pi! (Hah hah hah! Yeah! Bui!)" Raikiri exclaimed happily as she did a v-for-victory sign with her right paw.

"Kage! Raikiri!"

The two blinked a bit before grinning over at the berry lover and the fire mouse.

"Hey! Anemoné! Lucifer! Did you guys see that?" Kage asked as she got up still holding Raikiri.

"Yeah! That was awesome by the way!" Anemoné chirped, smiling at the tomboy.

"Cyndaquil quil cynda! (That was so cool!)" Lucifer exclaimed. "Cyndaquil quil cyndaquil! (Congratulations by the way!)"

"Pikachu! (Aw, thanks!)" Raikiri said blushing a bit while rubbing the back of her head.

The two girls watching gave each other smiles before a thought occurred to Kage.

"What are we going to do about the Rockets?" Kage asked out loud as question marks appeared around her.

Anemoné sweatdropped a bit, "Um. . . Tie them up?"

Everyone blinked at the suggestion before giving each other sly smiles.

**---Back Outside the Well---**

"Well, that was fun." Kage said grinning a bit as Raikiri sat on her shoulder laughing.

"Ahahaha. Yeah. Even if it _was_ a bit mean to do that." Anemoné said laughing a bit nervously as Lucifer had a happy look on his face.

Kage just grinned at the berry lover before looking at her, or rather their, masterpiece.

The two girls and their Pokémon had tied and gagged the two Rockets before drawing, with permanent marker, designs all over their faces.

"Hey! Anemoné! Kuroi!" A familiar voice said from the entrance of Azalea Town.

The two girls blinked and turned before grinning and waving to Shiroi, Ed, Kurt, and Amy. "Hey guys!"

Kage and Anemoné ran towards them whilst dragging the Rockets along using the end rope left.

"All of the Rockets fled!" Ed exclaimed grinning before glaring at Anemoné as he remembered what she did.

Anemoné just grinned at the boy as she stuck out her tongue. "Heh heh!"

Shiroi shook his head before blinking and raising an eyebrow at the rope as Kage grinned wider, if possible. "Do I even want to know?"

"Maybe you do. Maybe you don't." Kage said before turning them over so that everyone could see the Rocket's faces.

Ed and Amy immediately burst out laughing as Shiroi shook his head chuckling softly.

The two girls smiled at each other and at their Pokémon before giving each other high-fives.

Kurt, who was watching all of this silently, smiled a bit. 'They're very alike to them.'

**---Next Morning: Kurt's Dojo-House (8 A.M.)---**

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BE-Click!

Rustle of a blanket. . .

THUMP!

"Ow. . . I have got to stop falling from the bed. . ." A soft voice mumbled before yawning.

"Pi pikachu pi chu. (Yeah, you do have too, Kage.)" The mouse Pokémon said from the top of the bed.

"Morning to you too, sunshine." Kage said jokingly as she patted Raikiri on the head and proceeded to get ready.

**---Over in the Next Room---**

"I wonder if Kage's up yet. . ." The blue-violet eyed girl mumbled while combing her hair.

"Cyndaquil quil. (I'm sure she is, Anemoné.)" The fire mouse replied to his trainer's musing.

"Ha ha ha. Yeah. I guess you're right, Lucifer." Anemoné said smiling at him.

"Cynda cynda quil quil. (We should go downstairs now.)" Lucifer said to the girl as he jumped down from the bed.

"Yeah." Anemoné mumbled after fixing her hair and getting off the chair. "Come on."

"Quil! (Okay!)"

**---Downstairs---**

"Good morning everyone!" Anemoné greeted happily as she walked into the dining room part.

"G'morning." The silver haired male, Shiroi, replied after swallowing some toast.

"Charmander! (Morning!)" The fire lizard piped up before returning to his PokéFood as Lucifer went over to his own plate.

"About time you woke up, sleepy-head!" The brown-haired male teased as he leaned back into his chair making it tilt a bit.

Anemoné's eyebrow twitched a bit before she walked over to him and. . . kicked the back of it making him fall to the floor.

"Ow! Hey! What was that for?!" Ed shouted as he rubbed his head.

"_That_ was for provoking me!" The berry girl retorted while giving him a look.

"Why you-!" And with that, the two had once again entered a friendly verbal argument.

Meanwhile, Kage had arrived downstairs with Raikiri on her shoulder. "Ohayo minna."

Shiroi blinked a bit, "You have got to stop speaking in Japanese, Kuroi."

The tomboy yawned a bit before shrugging, "Not my fault that it's my language."

The other male shook his head and returned to his food sulking a bit. (I still can't believe I lost to someone as carefree as him. . .)

"Pikachu pi pika chu chu. (Ne, ne. Kage, I'm really hungry now.)" Raikiri said tugging on Kage's jacket a bit.

"Oh yeah. Well, then, go ahead and eat. I have to release everyone else from their Pokéballs so that they can eat too." Kage said before Raikiri nodded and jumped off of her perch.

"Ah! Wait! I need to go outside to release mine!" Anemoné exclaimed as she stopped arguing with Ed.

"Huh? Why? Afraid that you can't control your Pokémon?" Ed sneered a bit but the berry girl ignored him.

"Hm? Oh yeah! Heh heh. I forgot. Well then, let's go and bring the Pokéfood too, 'kay?" Kage said walking out of the room after grabbing their bags as Anemoné nodded.

"Pika pika! (I'm coming too!)" Raikiri said picking up her dish and walking a bit clumsily towards the back door.

**---Outside---**

"Wow! This is a really nice backyard!" Kage exclaimed as she placed the bags onto a table and looked around.

The yard was covered with lush green grass and was probably big enough for four battle arenas, and still have space for a resting place left over.

"It is isn't it?" Kurt said walking out of the dojo-house.

"Hm? Oh! G'morning, Mister Kurt!" Kage greeted smiling.

"It's a good morning indeed." The old man said as he sat on the stairs.

"Alright! I got the PokéFood!" Anemoné said as she walked outside and placed them onto the table. "Oh! Good morning, Mister Kurt!"

"Good morning to you too Anemoné." Kurt replied. "I heard that you needed to let out your Pokémon here?"

Anemoné nodded, "Yeah. That won't be a problem, will it?"

Kurt smiled, "Of course not. Besides I would like to see what Pokémon you've captured."

Kage grinned a bit and threw two Pokéballs into the air, "Yosh! Time to come on out, you guys!"

"Alright! Out you go!" Anemoné called out as she threw two Pokéballs into the air as well.

Four flashes of white light before they faded to reveal a Sentret, a Pidgey, an Eevee, and an Onix.

"Sentret sen! (Alright! Breakfast!)" Zensoku said happily before stopping and staring at the mouse Pokémon. "Sentret? (Raikiri?)"

"Pidgey pidge?! (That's Raikiri?!)" Tsubasa chirped confused. "Pidgey pidgey pidge pidgey? (But wasn't she a Pichu?)"

Raikiri grinned at her fellow teammates, "Pikachu pika pika pikachu! (It's me, alright! I evolved yesterday!)"

"Eevee eev! (Wow! Nice!)" Atsuko piped in rushing up to see Raikiri in all of her Pikachu glory when-

"RAWR!" The ground shook a bit as Onix roared in relief from being stuck in the Pokéball.

The other Pokémon sweatdropped a bit as Anemoné laughed a bit and patted him on the head, ""I know. I know. You didn't like being cooped up for too long now did you?"

Kage laughed a bit when she saw the other Pokémon begin to stare at Onix, "Looks like Rai-Rai isn't the only one that's cool."

"Rrooar!" The rock Pokémon roared happily as Raikiri pouted a bit before sticking out her tongue. "Pika pikachu! (Kage you meanie!)

The tomboy chuckled a bit before helping Anemoné prepare the PokéFood.

"Hm? So those are your Pokémon?" Shiroi mused from the doorway as Charmander ran up to them.

"Char char charmander! (Hi! I'm Charmander! Nice to finally meet you guys!)" The fire lizard said introducing himself.

The scout smiled at Charmander. "Sentret sen sentret! Sen sen sentret sentret tret tret! (I'm Zensoku! Nice to meet you too! And they are Tsubasa and Atsuko!)"

"Pidge/Eev!! (Hi!)" The two said Pokémon greeted before returning to each other's talk.

Onix didn't bother replying as he continued to eat. Raikiri and Lucifer, on the other hand, grinned towards the two males as the four engaged in a group talk.

Kage sat down on one of the chairs as she ate her own breakfast. "Mmmm. The eggs and bacons are delicious!"

Anemoné smiled and nodded in agreement as she, too, began to eat. "Mm hm!"

The silver haired boy sighed a bit before sitting on one of the chairs while staring at the sky when a haughty laugh was heard.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!!! Those are your Pokémon! They're weaker than I thought!" A certain brown-haired boy exclaimed.

The berry lover twitched a bit as an anime vein appeared on her head.

Lucifer, Atsuko, and Onix all gained one as well before glaring at the still laughing boy.

"Onix, you know what to do. . ." Anemoné mumbled as the rock Pokémon shifted his body so that he was in front of Ed.

The brown-haired boy abruptly stopped laughing before sweatdropping nervously. "Uh. . . Now, now Anemoné. No need to-"

"ROOOAR!!!"

The mighty Roar literally blew Ed away.

"DAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRN YOOOOOOOUUUUUU!!!"

Kage blinked before stared, wide-eyed, slightly intimidated. 'Note to self: Never get her mad.'

Meanwhile, Shiroi and Kurt both sweatdropped but ignored the previous event as Amy poked her head out from the doorway.

"Did anyone hear anything?" The young girl asked blinking a bit.

Anemoné gave her a sweet smile. "No, it was nothing. Don't worry about it."

Amy blinked once more before smiling back. "Okay!"

Silence fell over the group before Kage decided to speak up. "Err. . . So what are you going to do now, Shiroi?"

"Hm. . ." The silver-haired male mumbled before looking at the tomboy. "I'll be leaving at around noon to get to Goldenrod City."

Kage blinked a bit. "Eh? You already got the badge?"

Shiroi smirked a bit. "I've had it for a while now."

"Sugoi." The tomboy said clapping as she gave a look on indifference as Shiroi twitched annoyed.

'Sugoi?! That's all he has to say?! Why I-!' The male began thinking of several ways to torture the tomboy for being so nonchalant.

Anemoné sighed a bit while sweatdropping. 'Man am I glad that the Pokémon aren't paying attention to this. . .'

**---In Front of the Azalea Gym---**

"So I guess we'll see each other whenever?" Kage said with a faint smile.

Shiroi merely nodded before giving the tomboy a stern look. "Listen, at the Johto League."

"There's a Johto League?" Kage asked blinking a bit as a question mark appeared above her.

Shiroi fell over anime-style before a depressed aura surrounded him. "Yes. . . There is. . ."

"Oh." Kage said before sweatdropping at the depressed boy. "Err. . . Anyways, continue?"

Shiroi sighed a bit. "At the Johto League. . . That's where we will have our battle."

"Saa. . . Souka. . ." Kage mumbled with a faint smile before smirking. "Yosh! I'll beat you there, then!"

"Yeah. You'll beat-hey! Wait a minute!" Shiroi shouted as an anime vein throbbed on his forehead.

Anemoné laughed a bit at the scene which consisted of Kage running away from an angered Shiroi.

---

"So this is a 'see you later' ne?" Kage said smiling as she nursed the bump on her head.

The boy merely nodded with an annoyed look on his face before sighing and walking away.

"Bye Shiroi!" Anemoné called from behind Kage who sighed a bit. (Finally! No more tenseness. . . ness. . .)

In the distance, Shiroi was seen giving a wave without looking back.

The berry lover sighed a bit before smiling at Kage. "Shall we enter now?"

The tomboy looked at the greenhouse gym before smirking. "Yeah. Let's go."

With that, the two companions entered the Azalea Gym of Bug Pokémon.


	4. Dancing with Swords!

**We don't own Pokémon or anything related to it; it belongs to Satoshi Tajiri.  
The other characters however were created by us, Naoko & Miharu.  
We hope you enjoy **_Johto Beginnings__

* * *

_

"Whoa." The silver-eyed tomboy mumbled as she gazed around her surroundings.

"Whoa is right." A certain berry planter said softly as the two Pokémon on their shoulders gaped at the gym.

The interior of the Azalea Gym consisted of a dense forest and was fairly humid and moist.

"Hey you!" A voice called out making the two girls blink before looking upwards to see a young boy standing on a branch.

"Are you two here to challenge the Gym Leader of the Azala Gym?"

"Ah! Um. Yeah! We are here to battle the Gym Leader!" Anemoné replied as Kage nodded in agreement.

The boy grinned a bit before climbing down. "Great! I was wondering where all of the trainers went!"

The two girls sweatdropped a bit. (Did they not notice that Team Rocket was outside?)

"Anyways. . . I'm Jei! Nice to meet ya!" The boy said grinning before blowing his messy dark green hair out of his face.

"I'm Anemoné and this is Kage. Nice to meet you too!" The berry lover said as Kage gave a grin.

"Well, come on! I'll show you the way to the arena!" Jei exclaimed before dragging the two girls deeper into the greenhouse.

(This guy. . . he's rather hyper. . .) Kage thought sweatdropping.

Anemoné had a slightly annoyed look. (He's almost as bad as Kage in hyper-mode. . . _almost_. . .)

After a few more minutes of dragging the two around, Jei finally stopped at a shaded arena.

(This place looks so peaceful. . .) Kage mused looking around.

"Ano. . . Where's the Gym Leader, Jei?" Anemoné asked softly as she inched closer to everyone.

Jei frowned a bit and scratched the back of his head. "That's weird. He's usually here with the baby Pokémon."

"Baby Pokémon?" Anemoné asked intrigued as Kage sat down yawning while Raikiri and Lucifer snoozed away near her.

Jei grinned and nodded. "Believe it or not. Bugsy, that's the Gym Leader, breeds and trains the Pokémon that inhabits this Gym."

"What kind of Pokémon do Bugsy train?" The berry girl asked interested.

"Well, bug Pokémon basically." The boy replied blinking his brown eyes.

"Bug Pokémon?" Anemoné mumbled slightly tense.

"You're not afraid of them are you?" Jei asked concerned that she might start freaking out.

"Eh. I'm not scared of them. Just. . . not very used to them, that's all." Anemoné mumbled not liking the fact that she was in a jungle-like forest.

Jei was about to reply when a praying mantis-like Pokémon landed in the middle of the arena and let out a battle-like cry.

The tomboy sat hunched over, alert, as Raikiri and Lucifer woke up in surprise. 'A Scyther?'

The bushes rustled from the group's right making them tense up when a boy, perhaps around thirteen or so, with chin-length violet hair and blue-black eyes stepped out from behind the green plants.

"Bugsy!" Jei exclaimed relaxing as he grinned and waved to the newcomer.

"Hm? Jei? What are you doing here?" The now-identified Bugsy inquired as he brushed some leaves off his clothes.

"Some challengers have arrived!" The hyper boy said happily as he dragged the Gym Leader over to the girls. "This is Anemoné and that's Kage. Their Pokémon's are that Pikachu and that Cyndaquil!"

Bugsy nodded before placing his right hand out for a handshake. "I'm Bugsy, the Azalea Gym Leader. Nice to meet you two."

Anemoné smiled back and shook his hand. "I'm Anemoné Phoenix as Jei had already said and this is Lucifer, my Cyndaquil."

"Cynda! (Hi!)" The fire mouse greeted as the Gym Leader smiled back when a certain mouse Pokémon popped up in front of him.

"Pika pikachu! Pikachu chu pika pikachu! (Hiya Bugsy! I'm Raikiri! I'm a Pikachu!)"

Bugsy sweatdropped a bit, "Uh. . . Hi?"

"Come on, Rai-Rai. No need to scare the Gym Leader." The tomboy said picking up the pouting Pikachu. "By the way, I'm Kage Kuroi and you already met my Pikachu, Raikiri."

The violet-haired male nodded still sweatdropping before clearing his voice. "You two are challengers, correct?"

Both girls grinned slightly and nodded.

"Well then, let's start, shall we?" Bugsy said as he took his position on one side of the arena. "We'll use two Pokémon each. So which one of you will battle me first?"

Kage smirked. "Since Anemoné went first last time, Raikiri and I will start the party this time."

Bugsy raised an eyebrow at Kage but smirked right back at her as she took her place on her side.

"Yosh! Are you two ready?" Jei shouted from the Judge's area.

The girls blinked a bit. "EH?! YOU'RE THE OFFICIAL JUDGE?!"

Jei sweatdropped a bit. "Um yeah? Ehehehehe."

Bugsy sweatdropped and cleared his throat a bit again. "We're starting now."

Kage looked back and gave a sheepish grin. "Oh right. Continue on then, Jei."

Jei sighed a bit before grinning. "This will be a two-versus-two Pokémon battle between Bugsy, the Azalea Gym Leader, and Kage Kuroi, a trainer from New Bark Town. Ready? The battle will now. . . BEGIN!"

**---Gym Battle: Start!---**

Bugsy took out a red-and-white Pokéball and tossed it into the air. "I choose you! Metapod!"

A flash of white was released from the device to reveal a green. . . cocoon???

Kage blinked a bit before sweatdropping. "Um. . . Are you sure you want to use a Metapod?"

The violet-haired boy merely smirked at her. "Why? Scared that you'll lose?"

"Pika pikachu?! (What'd you say?!)" Raikiri exclaimed with anime veins around the two of them.

Kage's bangs shadowed her face a bit. "Tch. Fine. Raikiri. Let's go!"

"Pika! (Right!)" The mouse Pokémon said jumping onto the field as sparks of electricity crackled from her cheeks.

"Don't underestimate bug Pokémon." Bugsy informed as the Metapod glared at them. "Metapod! Use String Shot!"

Leaning back a bit, the cocoon Pokémon seemed to have taken a deep breath before he let out a stream of sticky substance.

"Dodge it now!" Kage ordered as the mouse Pokémon jumped out of the way only to be struck by another stream of String Shot.

"Pika-?! (What the-?!)" Raikiri exclaimed surprised as she fell down immobilized.

"Raikiri!" Kage shouted shocked.

Bugsy smirked a bit before his expression grew solemn. "Now Metapod! Use Tackle!"

With speed that one wouldn't believe a cocoon would have, Metapod dashed towards the mouse Pokémon landing a direct hit.

"Pika!" Raikiri squealed as she landed with a thud.

"Ah! Raikiri!" Kage exclaimed about to run into the arena.

"Now do you see why you shouldn't underestimate bug Pokémon?" Bugsy said softly.

The Metapod gave them a hard stare as Kage gritted her teeth a bit.

Her hair shaded her face a bit but a smirk was seen forming. "Heh. And that's why you shouldn't get too over confident either."

Bugsy furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you-!!!"

Electricity crackled around Raikiri as a smirk was also seen forming.

"Pika pika. . . CHU!!! (Don't underestimate. . . ME!!!)" The mouse Pokémon shouted angrily as the thunderbolt disintegrated the String Shot.

Landing on all fours, Raikiri's smirk seemed to have widen a bit as the electricity around her crackled dangerously.

Bugsy narrowed his eyes a bit. "No matter. Metapod! Use Harden!"

The cocoon Pokémon noticeably tensed as its body seemed to have a metal sheen to it.

"Ready Raikiri?" Kage asked as she gazed at the Metapod.

"Pika pika. (As ready as ever.)" Raikiri said as she, too, kept her eyes on her opponent.

"Alright! Finish him off! Use Thunderbolt!" Kage ordered.

Dashing towards the Pokémon, Raikiri jumped into the air before releasing a powerful charge of electricity.

"PIKA. . . CHUUU!!!"

A direct hit as a small explosion of smoke took place.

"Ah! Metapod!" Bugsy exclaimed surprised when the smoke cleared to reveal the unconscious Pokémon.

---

"Metapod is unable to battle! Raikiri wins this fight!" Jei said after getting over his shock.

Kage grinned and laughed a bit as she hugged the female Pikachu. "Great job Raikiri!!!"

"Pika pikachu! (Ahahaha! Thanks!)" Raikiri said happily before yawning a bit. "Pika pi? (Can I sleep?)"

Kage sweatdropped a bit before smiling. "Go ahead. You need some rest after all."

But the Pokémon didn't reply for she had already fallen asleep.

The tomboy looked over to Bugsy who had finished healing Metapod with a Potion and was returning him to his Pokéball. "Hey, uh, Bugsy!"

The gym leader blinked a bit and looked over to the girl confused, "What is it?"

"Um, is Metapod alright? And, um, no hard feelings?" Kage asked slightly embarrassed.

Bugsy gave a faint smile and nodded, "He'll be fine but the battle isn't over yet. By the way, you're switching?"

Kage nodded a bit and took out a Pokéball as Bugsy did the same.

Jei looked from one to the other before nodding to himself when he saw that they were ready. "Okay! The next fight will now commence!"

---

"Go! Zensoku!" Kage shouted as she tossed the Pokéball into the air.

A flash of light was released to reveal the male Sentret, pumped and ready. "Sentret! (Let's go!)"

Bugsy also threw a Pokéball into the air. "I choose you! Heracross!"

A blue beetle-like Pokémon appeared from the Pokéball. "Heracross! (My turn!)"

"Zensoku! Use Quick Attack!" Kage commanded.

"Sen! (Right!)" Zensoku said as he jumped off of his tail-stand and ran towards the bug Pokémon.

But their opponents were ready for their move.

"Heracross! Use Horn Attack!" Bugsy ordered.

"Heracross! (Take this!)" The beetle Pokémon jumped into the air and revealed her wings before diving towards the scout.

Zensoku hesitated and jumped out of the way instead of attacking but Heracross turned and began her assault.

"Sentret! (Aaaaah!)" The scout Pokémon shouted before he was thrown to the ground.

"Heracross!" Bugsy called out as the beetle Pokémon's eyes narrowed a bit. "Finish it!"

"Zensoku!" Kage yelled out in alarm when she saw that the horn was beginning to glow white. "Get out of the way!"

However, the already-heavily injured scout was too tired to moved thus leading to a direct hit from the Megahorn.

---

"Zensoku is unable to battle! Heracross wins this fight!" Jei proclaimed.

"Zensoku. . ." Kage mumbled as she rushed onto the arena and picked up the unconscious scout Pokémon.

Kage sighed a bit before taking out a Potion from her bag and spraying it on his wounds. "Don't worry, Zensoku. You'll be just fine later."

Bugsy watched the scene and said nothing as Kage returned Zensoku to his Pokéball.

"Pikachu. . . (Zensoku. . .)"

Kage blinked a bit before noticing that Raikiri was awake but her ears and inverted arrow-tip shaped tail were dropped low.

Kage took a deep breath before she smirked at Raikiri. "Ready for another battler, Raikiri?"

The mouse Pokémon's ears perked up a bit before she jumped into the arena, electricity crackling from her cheeks as the battle soon resumed.

"The next fight will now begin!" Jei shouted.

---

"Heracross! Use Fury Attack!" Bugsy commanded.

The Heracross flew towards the mouse Pokémon, head lowered and horn ready.

"Use Agility!" Kage ordered as the electric Pokémon nodded in understandment. "Pi! (Right!)"

Raikiri began to dodge the attacks with ease before jumping out of the way as the beetle Pokémon crash landed.

"Now! Use Double Team!" Kage commanded as the Heracross got up slowly.

"Pika! (Got'cha!)" Raikiri dashed towards the beetle Pokémon before swerving around her and increasing in speed every passing second.

Suddenly, the once-yellow blur split into multiple images of Raikiri. All of which were facing the bug Pokémon.

Heracross looked a bit surprised as did Bugsy but they both regained their composure.

"Heracross! Don't let her confuse you! Try to Anticipate it!" Bugsy commanded.

The blue-colored Pokémon obeyed and braced herself while keeping her eyes on the image in front of her.

"Alright Raikiri! It's combo time! Use Quick Attack! Let's go!" Kage ordered after a few seconds.

Three of the Raikiri images dashed towards the Heracross and attacked her at the same time, throwing the Pokémon into the air before the images disappeared.

The other images of the mouse Pokémon soon appeared and tackled the beetle Pokémon from different angles.

Finally, the real Raikiri appeared above the distraught Pokémon with her inverted arrow-tip shaped tail glowing white.

"Finish it with Iron Tail!" Kage commanded.

"Pikachu! (You're finished!)" Raikiri shouted as she slammed her iron-hard tail right on top of the Heracross's head.

Jumping away and on all fours, the mouse Pokémon and her trainer watched as the beetle Pokémon swayed from one side to the other before. . .

THUD!

The Heracross fell over, knocked out and unconscious.

**---Gym Battle: End!---**

"And this match goes to Kage Kuroi of New Bark Town!" Jei announced before jumping off of the Judge's area and checking up on Heracross.

Kage fell to the ground on her bottom in relief before Raikiri tackled her, squealing happily.

"Pika pikachu pika pikachu chu!!! (We did it Kage! We won!)"

Kage gave a soft laugh before hugging the mouse Pokémon, "Yup! And you finally mastered that combo too!"

Raikiri gave a big grin before a shadow fell over the two.

"Here." Bugsy said as he crouched down and held out his hand which was where the Hive Badge laid.

Kage grinned and took the badge before punching the air in happiness. "Alright! I finally got the Hive Badge!"

Bugsy laughed a bit as the tomboy and her Pikachu began to dance their victory dance.

Suddenly, the said two were tackled over by a certain berry lover and her Cyndaquil.

"That was an awesome battle, Kage!" Anemoné exclaimed patting her friend on the back.

"Cyndaquil quil! (And that's no lie!)" Lucifer piped in as the other two blushed a bit out of embarrassment.

"Thanks Anemoné. Lucifer." Kage said as Raikiri nodded still grinning happily.

"By the way." Anemoné said as her face grew a bit solemn.

"Oro? Nani?" Kage asked confused.

BONK!

"Itai! What was that for?!" Kage shouted rubbing her newly-formed bump.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were secretly training?!" Anemoné shouted back slightly annoyed as Lucifer nodded in agreement from behind her.

"Err. . ." The tomboy didn't reply for a moment and rubbed the tip of her nose. "Well, you see. . ."

Anemoné sighed a bit before smiling. "Oh well, but the next time that you're going to train tell me so that we could help each other!"

Kage grinned a bit, "Got'cha."

"Well, if the celebrating is done. Let's get to our battle." Bugsy said snapping the companions out of their extremely small party.

Anemoné gave a nervous laugh. "Right. Sorry 'bout that. Come on Lucifer."

"Cynda! (Right!)" The fire mouse said as he followed his trainer.

"GAMBATTE YO!" Kage encouraged from the sidelines.

"Pika pikachu! (We'll be cheering from here!)" Raikiri added in wearing a Japanese cheering outfit as she held out two identical fans waving them from side to side.

Anemoné grinned a bit and nodded as she took her place near the arena.

Jei had taken his place on the Judge's arena, "The battle between Bugsy, the Azalea Gym Leader, and Anemoné, a trainer from Cherrygrove City, will contain a two Pokémon each. Are you ready?"

Both battlers nodded and Anemoné readied her Pokéball.

"BEGIN!"

**---Gym Battle: Start!---**

Anemoné tossed her Pokéball into the air. "I choose you! Onix!"

The giant rock snake appeared and let out a mighty roar. "GROAWWR!!! (FEAR ME!!!)"

Bugsy sweatdropped a bit at the size of the Pokémon before turning to the mantis Pokémon. "Let's go! Scyther!"

"Scy!" The green mantis let out a battle-cry before flying over to the arena.

"Onix! Use Tackle!" Anemoné commanded.

Onix let out another roar before charging at his opponent.

However, with Scyther's speed, the mantis Pokémon easily dodged the slow but powerful attack.

"Scyther! Use Quick Attack!" Bugsy ordered.

"Scy!" The bug Pokémon disappeared in a blur of green before reappearing at several angles attacking.

"Onix! Use Harden to lessen the damage!" Anemoné shouted.

The rock snake growled a bit before his body acquired that metal sheen that Metapod had.

Scyther's attacks bounced off as the rock Pokémon received little or rather no damage at all.

Bugsy gritted his teeth a bit before an idea occurred to him. "Scyther! Use Swords Dance!"

The mantis Pokémon nodded and began to turn as wind picked up around it.

"Now use Razor Wind!" Bugsy commanded.

The wind picked up and intensified as everyone shielded their face as to not get themselves hurt by the wind.

"Onix! Use Rock Throw!" Anemoné ordered.

The rock Pokémon slammed his tail into the ground breaking it before grabbing hold of broken rocks and hurling them at the Scyther.

But the Razor Wind cut through the rocks and proceeded towards Onix.

"Ah! Onix use Harden! Quickly!" Anemoné shouted, worried.

The giant rock snake regained the metallic sheen before bracing himself.

The tornado-like attack engulfed the rock Pokémon as everyone watched, anxious about the outcome.

Slowly, the attack began to die down to reveal a slightly battered Onix.

Shaking his head a bit, the giant rock Pokémon let out an annoyed roar before glaring at the Scyther.

Anemoné grinned a bit before her expression turned serious. "Alright Onix! Time to finish it! Use Bind!"

"RAWR!" Onix roared before charging at the mantis Pokémon.

However, with his speed, Scyther easily dodged Onix's attempt to wrap himself around his opponent.

"Scyther! Use Quick Attack!" Bugsy ordered.

Dashing forward, Scyther readied his blade-like arms about to strike.

Anemoné, on the other hand, didn't look too worried. "Onix! Rock Throw!"

"RAWR!" With a mighty roar, the rock Pokémon slammed his tail onto the ground before hurling the rocks towards Scyther.

Although the bug Pokémon had dodged the rocks, his speed had slowed down considerably.

"Dig underground!" Anemoné commanded.

Diving headfirst, the rock snake burrowed himself deep into the earth.

The soft rumbling of the area was the only signal that Onix was moving about underground.

Bugsy and Scyther looked around cautiously before the rumbling stopped and silence fell.

"Scyther! Keep your guard up!" Bugsy said to the mantis Pokémon who, in return, nodded in understandment.

After a minute or two, nothing happened before the ground rumbled again.

Anemoné smirked a bit before Bugsy understood what she was doing. "Scyther! Get off of the ground now!"

The mantis Pokémon was about to take flight but was too slow as the rock snake shot out from underground and wrapped his long body around Scyther.

"Alright, Onix!" Anemoné shouted in joy at the fact that her plan worked. "Now! Use Bind!"

Onix tightening his grip on the bug Pokémon who tried, but failed, to struggle out of it.

"Oh no you don't." Bugsy said before shouting to Scyther. "Use False Swipe and then Swords Dance!"

The Scyther nodded before swinging his blade upwards, successively slashing the rock Pokémon on his underside.

As Onix loosened his grip a bit, Scyther began spinning at a rapid speed again throwing the heavy Pokémon away from him.

Onix crashed onto the ground before getting up and letting out an angered roar as Scyther landed panting a bit.

"Scyther! Are you alright?" Bugsy asked looking worriedly at his Pokémon.

"Scyther! (I'm Fine!)" The bug Pokémon replied as his heavy breathing slowly resided.

"Onix!" Anemoné shouted as the rock Pokémon got up.

"Grawr. (I'm okay.)" Onix responded keeping his eyes on the bug Pokémon before digging underground again.

"Nngh. Scyther!" Bugsy said, hinting to his companion who merely nodded looking around cautiously but not moving.

Suddenly, the ground under Scyther moved a bit but the bug Pokémon noticed and jumped away as Onix burst out of the ground.

Landing, Scyther looked at where Onix had appeared and noticed that he was charging at him before flying into the air as to dodge the attack.

Onix burrowed underground once more when he missed Scyther thus leaving everyone's site once more.

Anemoné sighed a bit as she closed her eyes and Bugsy furrowed his eyebrows in concentration.

Opening here eyes, Anemoné narrowed her eyes a bit before shouting her command. "Onix! Rock Tomb!"

The rumbling stopped before the ground burst up, encasing the bug Pokémon and immobilizing him.

"Scyther! Try to use Razor Wind!" Bugsy yelled towards his Pokémon.

The green mantis struggled against the mound of rock but to no avail.

"Finish it!" Anemoné commanded as the ground rumbled. "Use Slam!"

"RAWR!" Onix revealed himself once more before his tail crashed down onto the trapped Scyther.

Dust and parts of the destroyed arena flew into the air due to the impact before beginning to settle.

Onix moved himself away from the distorted area to near Anemoné as he watched for any sudden movements.

A green blur suddenly flew from the dust and landed in front of Onix breathing heavily.

Anemoné was about to order Onix to attack again when she noticed that the Scyther stumbled a bit.

Swaying, the bug Pokémon blinked a bit and tried to stay awake before collapsing onto the ground.

---

"And Scyther is unable to battle! Onix wins this fight!" Jei announced as Bugsy ran over to his Pokémon and began to spray a potion on his wounds.

"Whew." Anemoné sighed a bit and slumped to the ground as Onix nudged her a bit.

The berry lover smiled and hugged the giant rock Pokémon before taking out a potion as well and spraying it on his wounds.

"Great job, by the way, Onix!" Anemoné congratulated as the Pokémon roared in happiness.

Taking out Onix's red-and-white Pokéball, Anémone returned him so that he could rest. Before getting up again and facing Bugsy who had already returned Scyther.

"I was hoping to finish the match using Scyther only but I guess I highly underestimated you." Bugsy mused.

Anémone gave a faint smile. "Even if you did, that fight was a toughie."

Jei blinked a bit at their exchange of words but shrugged it off. "And now, the final fight will commence!"

---

Anemoné smirked a bit before turning a bit to her Cyndaquil. "Ready to finish this, Lucifer?"

"Cynda! (You bet!)" The fire mouse responded as he jumped onto the arena,

Bugsy tensed a bit before sighing and throwing a Pokéball into the air. "Go! Kakuna!"

The device opened and a flash of light burst from it to revealed a yellow cocoon Pokémon.

Turning to Anemoné, Bugsy gave a determined look, "Even if my Kakuna isn't trained to defend against fire attacks, we won't back down!"

Anemoné smiled a bit and nodded in understandment before she concentrated on the fight. "Lucifer! Use Ember!"

The Cyndaquil took a deep breath before spewing a jet of hot fire at his opponent.

"Kakuna! Harden!" Bugsy countered.

The bug Pokémon received the metallic look on his body just as the attack hit.

After a few moments of letting the flames engulf Kakuna, Lucifer finally stopped.

The red fire crackled a bit before it slowly faded away to reveal. . .

A glow of white?!

"Quil? (What the-?)" Lucifer mumbled stepping back a bit as everyone else gaped at the Pokémon.

The former shape of a Kakuna began to change into a bee-like Pokémon before the glow disappeared.

"A Beedrill!" Bugsy whispered in awe.

"Drill. (I'm ready.)" The Pokémon said as his wings beat to keep him in air.

Bugsy smiled a bit before his expression grew serious once more. "Alright Beedrill! Use Fury Attack!"

"Beedrill! (Roger that!)" The bee said as he flew quickly towards the fire mouse.

"Ah! Lucifer! Use Smokescreen! Quickly!" Anemoné shouted.

"Quil!!!" Lucifer exhaled a large amount of black smoke covering the entire arena.

"Beedrill! Try to blow the smoke away with your wings!" Bugsy ordered.

The sound of wings beating was heard as the smoke cleared slightly to show faint images of the two Pokémon.

"Lucifer! Use Ember again!" Anemoné commanded.

A flicker of red and orange was seen before a jet of flames burst through the smoke.

The smokescreen cleared to show that only a part of the attack hit the bug Pokémon.

"Beedrill! Use Fury Attack!" Bugsy commanded as the Pokémon flew towards the Cyndaquil.

"Lucifer! Dodge them!" Anemoné shouted to the fire Pokémon.

Jumping out of the way, Lucifer had barely dodged the first strike before Beedrill's second pin-like arm landed a direct blow.

However, before a third one could hit the fire Pokémon, Lucifer let out a breath of fire which engulfed his opponent.

"Beedrill!" Bugsy called out in surprise.

The attack subsided as the bug Pokémon fell to the arena floor unconscious.

**---Gym Battle: End! ---**

"And Beedrill is unable to battle! Lucifer and Anemoné win the battle!" Jei concluded.

"Cyndaquil quil! (We did it, Anemoné!)" Lucifer shouted happily as he jumped into his trainer's arms.

Anemoné gave a soft laugh, hugging the Pokémon back. "Yuppers! That we did, Lucifer!"

Bugsy returned Beedrill to his Pokéball before smiling at the two rejoicing and walking over to them.

Reaching into his pocket and pulling out another badge, he held it out for the girl. "Here you go. It's the Hive Badge and it's all yours."

Anemoné's smile widens a bit as she took and badge and held it up to admire before jumping up and down in joy.

"This is so awesome!"

Lucifer let out a cute squeal. "Cyndaquil! (That it is!)"

Suddenly, the two were tackled two blurs, one black and one yellow.

"Awesome job, Anemoné-Chan!" The familiar voice of the tomboy was heard laughing a bit.

"Pika pikachu! (That was an awesome battle!)" Raikiri chirped happily as she thumped the fire mouse's back a few times.

The berry lover and the Cyndaquil blush a bit before grinning happily back at them.

"That was an awesome battle." Bugsy said from behind them.

Jei suddenly popped up next to them. "The way you guys fought each other was way cool!"

"Oro? Yeah! It was!" Kage said happily after getting over the fact that Jei seemed to have popped up from nowhere. "Especially the part where Kakuna evolved!"

Raikiri nodded in agreement. "Chu chu pikachu! (And don't forget the part where Onix did that combo thing!)"

Kage stopped in mid-cheering. "Speaking of combo's. . ."

Anemoné sweatdropped a bit before laughing nervously. "Ahahaha. Well, about that. . ."

Kage swung an arm around her shoulders before giving the berry girl a knuckle sandwich. "You also trained in secret, didn't ya?"

"Ow! Hey!" Anemoné shouted trying to get away from the 'evil-knuckle-sandwich-of-doom'.

Bugsy, Jei, Raikiri, and Lucifer merely laughed good-naturedly at the two girls.

---

"Bye Bugsy! Bye Jei!" Kage shouted while waving both her arms good-bye to the said two.

"Bye you two!" Bugsy responded waving as well.

"And good luck on your journeys!" Jei added in cheerfully.

"Thanks and good-bye!" Anemoné said giving a small wave before the two girls left Azalea Town and entered the Ilex Forest.


End file.
